


Requisite

by AikoIsari



Series: Digimon No Verse [4]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:05:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4221123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AikoIsari/pseuds/AikoIsari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taichi was supposed to leave with Agumon, but Hikari went through instead. With Agumon. And a cold. Well, this could prove problematic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something Like Willpower

Well. This certainly was awkward.

Agumon looked down at his current human charge. Literally, he had to lower his yellow snout. She was so small. Small, small human. This was not Taichi.

No, this little thing with round red-brown (dried blood?) eyes and hair that wasn't poking him in the face was Hikari. She was staring at him like he had all the answers, and because she was such a small human, who relied on Taichi for answers, he probably had them. Nothing against Taichi, because his Taichi was his Taichi, but he wasn't very smart. He could think of things, but he didn't think of things enough, because it took him way too long. It took Agumon a long time too, but he rarely had to answer tough questions.

"Um... where am I?" Her voice was a sleepy wheeze. She rubbed her eyes.

Luckily for him, this was not a tough question.

"We're back in the Digital World." Then he paused, realizing this was the wrong way to put it. "Well, I'm back and you're here. We're in the Digital World."

Hikari simply nodded. She was very accepting of things, he noticed. Taichi was like that with people. Hikari was just... like that. It was odd, like she knew many more things than Taichi, but she could not say these things. It was like she didn't know how, or was scared to say them wrong.

Agumon found it very weird.

But he supposed humans in general were very strange. Digimon sure seemed to be that way to humans.

Hikari uncurled one of her tiny hands. In it was Taichi's Digivice... or maybe it wasn't. They all looked alike to him. She held it out for him to see and he sniffed it. Smelly gloves. Definitely Taichi. "I don't think you can eat this," she said, smiling a little as she pulled it back. "It's Onii-chan's."

"I can smell him on it," he said with a grin.

She wrinkled her nose. He agreed. His Taichi did not smell very good a lot of the time, especially when he was sweaty. Then Hikari looked around again, lifting one eyebrow in confusion. "He's not here..."

"Nope," Agumon agreed. He would have smelled him by now, even in all of this sand and cacti and stuff.

"Do you think he's okay?" Her voice trembled, though her fists gave a lazy clench, like she would try to make sure he was.

Lucky for her, Agumon was sure she didn't have to do that."Yep."

"Why?"

Agumon shrugged his thick, yellow arms. "Because he's Taichi."

She nodded again, this time with a little less agreement and a little more nodding for nodding. Humans sometimes did that, just nod to nod. It was weird. Maybe it was specific humans, because even though Taichi did that, he did less than others. Very unusual.

"Should we wait for him?" she asked in that odd voice that she had when she was doing more than thinking about the here and now, like she had when they were playing pattycake, or watching the tv. She was probably thinking about sneezing, since she then covered her mouth and squeaked into her elbow. It was much better than one of his sneezes, where he covered the grass or people's clothes... with fire. She likely thought that was what he would do, anyway. Heck, he had done that once or twice.

"We could, but he's probably worried about everybody else too," Agumon murmured.

Hikari clicked her tongue, puzzled. "Everyone else?"

"Un." Agumon nodded in accompaniment to his grunt. "Sora and Yamato and Mimi and Takeru and everyone and their partners. They were all here when we left, but..." he looked around. "I don't see any of them now-" He sneezed. "But with all of this sand..."

"I wouldn't stay here," Hikari said, covering her face with one arm. "It's all... gritty. We need to start looking for somewhere else, I think."

"Un." With that, he picked her up and put her on her back. She squeaked, or maybe that was another sneeze. "It'll be faster if I run with you." When Hikari didn't answer, Agumon added. "It's okay, you're not heavy or anything."

Hikari tapped his cheek. "Is okay." He thought she was smiling at the back of his head. He shook it off and began to stomp through the sand. He had to hurry. Taichi said Hikari was sick. He needed to get her somewhere she could rest. Then he could find the others. Maybe Koushiro. Koushiro would know what to do. Maybe he'd even found Gennai by now.

So many maybes, not enough solid answers.

Oh well. He knew what he had to do right now. That was what mattered the most.

By the time the sun set, Agumon was exhausted. But he had reached a forest and Hikari had managed to fish. Somehow, they had managed to survive together. Now, he was dozing. He had wanted Hikari to sleep. She had never been here before, she couldn't fight. She had insisted she wasn't tired, but she was very small. There was no way that could be true. Not to mention that Agumon was sure that he didn't want to continue. His legs hurt, first from the fight then from the fall and now the walking.

And the last parts had been done without Taichi, and that hurt.

That wasn't Hikari's fault, though. She probably hadn't meant to go through the gate or whatever it was instead of her brother. Still. Taichi was his Taichi. They were just better together.

He wondered if that meant there was someone for Hikari out here. He hoped so. Then she would be safer if he got distracted. Not that he would… right?

Agumon fell asleep thinking of these things, which honestly hurt his head. It was too much work to think of things so complicated. Why couldn't it just be simple like it was when he had hatched? Find the human. Find Taichi. Help him with whatever he needed. Save them. Save everyone.

He guessed he should have known that leaving File meant things would get complicated.

Hikari woke before Agumon the next morning She giggled at the snot bubble rising from his snout. He really showed he was Taichi's when he did stuff like that. She made herself roll and stretch and shift. When she was sick, rest was important, but a little exercise could sweat it out too. Not that Onii-chan would be pleased to see her sweating off the germs, but he wasn't here, so it was okay.

She stretched like she had watched Miko do hundreds of times, ending up, unlike her cat, with her fingers off the ground and falling backwards on her butt. Luckily for her, Agumon didn't do anything other than snore. She put her arms behind her back and pulled them downward, feeling her muscles give a little. Then she flopped back down onto the ground and stared at the sun.

This was the Digitial World. This was where Koromon had come from back then. This was where Koromon- Agumon- was from now.

It was beautiful.

It was also huge, but she guessed it would have to be to have such big creatures running around it and not destroying everything like Koromon had their apartment.

"Neh Koromon, aren't you gonna talk anymore?"

She had made herself remember those events, she guessed. Or at least as she had gotten older, that was what she had figured out. She had made herself remember, made herself see when things weren't just what they looked like or should be. So when the monsters had been on the television and her Onii-chan hadn't seen them, he hadn't been surprised, or even scared. They had been to their world before. They of course, would come back.

So now, Hikari was in their world. She didn't know why and she didn't know what she could do here. She wouldn't be here if she couldn't do something. So she would. And the first step was to find the people her brother had been with and bring them together. Because that was what he would do. They would be smart. They were here long enough. They would know how to work with anything else.

There was a loud grunt. "Hikari?"

Hikari smiled, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Good morning, Agumon."

And then she'd find the answers. Because, why her instead of her brother?

She had to know.


	2. Break the Rules

Hikari, Agumon quickly realized, was a lot like how Takeru had been when he had first got here. She was a little human, so little humans could be really excited and curious about everything.

"The Digital World has  _theme parks_!"

They could also be a little loud.

However, considering that giant ferris wheel he had seen in Tokyo, maybe being excited about theme parks was okay. It probably was. Agumon just hoped he didn't set something on fire somehow. That would be bad. He'd already done that to a Seadramon's tail, no need to repeat  _that_ experience.

Hikari climbed up from his back to see a bit better. Then she hopped off, thin sandals slapping the ground. She had the worst clothes for this, Agumon realized. Her shoes were thin and looked made of straw. How was she supposed to walk for the long treks that Taichi did? There was no way he could fight and carry her. Maybe one of the others would be able to help, or at least know where to get some shoes.

Come to think of it, there weren't many shopkeepers left in the Digital World. He had spent his whole life foraging with the others that he had even forgotten those guys existed. Not that he, or many Digimon it was likely, had money to even buy food or clothes, or anything. So no wonder they had gone endangered… was that the word?

Hikari tottered in the direction of the theme park. It was still a distance away, but the nearby lake was comforting. This was a good place to rest! "There are benches and rides and food stalls," she murmured. "Do you think this was played in before? We could find supplies to take with us!"

"Maybe!" Agumon shrugged. He liked shrugging, it felt good. "Or maybe the data fell here from your world. Lots of your stuff falls in here, it's kinda strange."

"And it doesn't break either..." Hikari saw a table that looked like a vertical L, including the seats. "Kinda..."

"The data coulda broke!" Agumon said with a laugh. "Let's keep going."

"Un."

Hikari was very agreeable. Agumon wasn't sure if he liked that or not. He paused to sniff the air. That was a familiar smell. Mm, maybe it was food. He had eaten a lot at Taichi and Hikari's house, there was no way he could be hungry…

There was a sudden, unfamiliar beeping sound. Hikari reached into her pocket. Her brother's Digivice was chirping like a baby chicken. She moved it and it went silent. She moved it again and it started to beep. "That way then?"

"Un." Agumon straightened. The smell was from that direction too. "Let's go take a look!"

"Yeah!" She didn't think it was her brother, but if Agumon knew the smell, it could be one of the others her brother had talked out. Maybe it was Koushiro-san! Though he had looked pretty weird in that video call, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea to meet him.

They kept walking and Hikari looked around, taking in every detail. "Agumon?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't Onii-chan want to come back?"

"Eh?" They didn't stop walking but Hikari looked pensive, a look she always seemed to have. Again, so different from Taichi. A nice different but still!

"I didn't want him to go because he seemed confused but why didn't he want to come back?"

Agumon thought about it. "Well, all of them want to go back to your world," he said, scratching his snout. "I wanted to go back home the second I was gone. I dunno why, just… I dunno, it didn't feel right even when I was with Taichi. I felt kinda fuzzy."

"Ooh..." Hikari tilted her head back and forth, hands flapping a little as she walked. It was a random move, and it sure wasn't an attack. "So he was homesick."

"Yeah! That!" It was probably like being hungry for the world you walked on instead of food. Huh. Going back to File Island would be nice. But not as nice as going back to Taichi.

Ah, so that was what homesickness was then.

"Un… Then we'll have to find everyone and bring them back, right?" Hikari looked at the Digivice. "Though your world is pretty..."

Agumon wanted to answer but then grunted, sniffing again. "I know that smell! I know it, I know it!" He picked up Hikari before he could stop himself and took off at a run. Hikari squealed in alarm, trying to get loose. She could walk, she could walk-

and was promptly dropped at the side of the river. "Tokomon!" Agumon shouted, forgetting her in his haste.

Hikari dusted herself off, pouting a little. Then she caught sight of a little white blob curled on the ground. Her first thought was that it was cute. Her second was the realization it wasn't moving. She scrambled from the ground as fast as she could, coughing a little. (She was still sick, silly Agumon not being more careful.) Agumon poked the Digimon on the ground with a claw. "Tokomon's not waking up…! And Takeru isn't here either!"

Hikari sat herself down and picked up the blob with legs, patting the odd-looking ears (they looked like mini stairwells) and rubbed under where a chin could be. The Digimon snuffled, before opening beady black eyes. Staring sleepily at Hikari, it blinked. "Who are you?"

"Tokomon!"

It turned its head, eyes brightening. "Agumon!" He wiggled away, hopping from Hikari's arms. "Who is this? There are more humans in the Digital World now? You're okay! I'm so glad! Where's Taichi?"

Agumon and Hikari both looked at each other. That was a lot of questions. Hikari took a deep breath. "I'm Hikari, Taichi's little sister!"

"Ooh, like Yamato has a little brother?" The Digimon's voice was a little too chipper, even though Koromon had sounded high and bright himself.

Hikari frowned. Something weird about how he said that. The way Agumon's nostrils flared said so too. "Un. Onii-chan I think is back home in the human world. But I have his Digivice thing." She held it out and Tokomon wrinkled his nose."

"Taichi-san's all right," he muttered and Hikari giggled. This was a sign that her brother needed to work on getting more clean socks.

"Tokomon," Agumon broke in, and Hikari watched the little Digimon tense. "Where's Takeru?"

For a moment, the little Digimon didn't answer, pawing at the strange objects on the ground. Then he shook his head. "We had a fight."

And, as it turned out, 'fight' was a bit of an understatement.

* * *

The good thing about there being so few humans in the Digital World was that if you tried hard enough, it wasn't difficult to find them. So when Agumon sent out a burst of flame so Hikari could cook a carefully found fish, it wasn't surprising for him to come running, a blur of green and yellow and cheerfulness all over.

"Agumon!"

He earned a large grin for that. "Hi Takeru!"

Hikari kept out of the reunion, occupying herself with cutting the newly caught fish with a sharp stone. It slipped from her fingers once or twice, but it was better than Agumon ruining it like he had the first time.

Takeru turned to her, noticing Tokomon in her lap. His eyes went strangely unhappy, but she could guess why. It looked bad. "Who are you?"

"Yagami Hikari!" This introduction thing was getting  _old_. "You are… Takeru-kun?" They had said his name enough on the way here, really now...

"Yeah!" He paused, looking a bit downtrodden. "I guess you've already met Tokomon, huh?"

"Un." Hikari smiled. "He cares about you a lot, you know? Didn't stop talking about you on the way here."

Takeru shrugged, but he gave her a reluctant nod. Tokomon wilted as Takeru spoke. "He hurt PicoDevimon's feelings though..."

"PicoDevimon lied!" Tokomon protested.

"You don't know that!" Takeru shot back, puffing up.

"You dunno if he's telling the truth either though," Agumon said before they could start yelling. Hikari rubbed her head, scooting further under the shade of the umbrella. Their yelling would have been so noisy. "And Tokomon is your friend. You shouldn't throw away one friend for a new one, not because he's worried about you."

The wind left Takeru's sails in a rush of breath. "But Onii-chan still isn't back yet…" He fumbled for words. "He always gets angry whenever I mention the others… why wouldn't he abandon me? I'm just a dumb kid..."

"No you're not! Stop calling yourself that now!" Tokomon hopped from Hikari's lap, looking as incensed as a blob of cute could look. "Takeru is kind and strong and works hard to not fight! Yamato just doesn't like it when you cry or get upset! I hate it too! We care about you so we hate it! He probably wants to find something that will make you happy!"

Takeru gaped at him, at a loss for words. Then a cheerful little voice rang out, "Hoo, Tokomon is still as optimistic as ever, huh?"

Hikari squinted at the sun to see what looked at first like a dirty soccer ball with wings. It seemed puzzled at the sight of her, but smiled at Takeru like he'd known him for years.

"How are you, Tokomon?" He landed on the ground, basket in talons. Hikari shifted. Those things were pretty big. "Who are your friends?"

Tokomon let out a squeaking snarl and didn't reply. Silence stiffened the air.

Agumon sniffed the air, cutting through it with a rumble of his stomach. "Mushrooms?"

PicoDevimon nodded, jumping on the topic like a moth to flame. "Yes, they're quite good, especially cooked!"

Hikari tried not to wrinkle her nose. She didn't like mushrooms. "Um… excuse me?" He turned to her and something in his eyes made her squirm again. "Why is Takeru-kun still here? Agumon and Tokomon said there used to be scary Digimon here, but they're gone now. Do you know why they weren't sent back home?"

PicoDevimon stiffened. Tokomon snapped his teeth, and he hurried to reply. "I'm just a wandering Digimon. I'm afraid I wouldn't know..."

"Mom always says people who talk about others like to gossip," Hikari said. Her head hurt more now, it was like something was trying to eat its way out of her brain. "So if you don't know, someone might, right?" She was here for a reason, she didn't know what the reason was, but there was no way all the evil Digimon are gone if they were all still here and she was here. Onii-chan would probably find that weird. "Please tell me?"

"I don't know!"

"But you know where Takeru-kun's brother is," Hikari protested, feeling like stomping her foot in irritation. "You have to know something!"

There was a loud beeping noise, cutting off any of the bat's attempts to answer. Hikari reached in her pocket. Her brother's Digivice had begun to glow.

At the sight of it, PicoDevimon panicked. "Why do you have something like that?" he lunged for her, dropping the basket.

Dropping his act.

Tokomon squeaked and lunged, ending up knocked into the table edge. Hikari scrambled backwards, tumbling off the chair and almost off of her feet. The pain in her head doubled and then burst. The beeping was in her head now and in her hand the digivice heated up like her dad's computer after three hours of use. Agumon moved forward, then jerked back, shock filling his system as his eyes turned red.

" _Agumon evolve!"_

From a faraway tree, there was a hissing laugh. "Well well," Tailmon whispered. "Looks like the bat found something interesting after all."

Now to exploit it.


	3. Fires of a New Doom

" _Greymon!"_

The large dinosaur lashed its orange tail, knocking the table aside and shaking himself. He looked at his claws, the rush of air from his tail sending PicoDevimon spiraling. "What… what's going on?"

Hikari's shoulders sagged and she slumped in her chair. The headache was gone, but now she could barely keep her eyes open. The Digivice slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground, the light still shining from its screen.

"How..." Takeru mouthed.

"Cool..." Tokomon said, black eyes wide. Then he turned on PicoDevimon. The bat picked himself up from the ground, golden eyes narrowing into slits. Any pretense was ripped away, replaced solely with wild rage. "What was that about, huh?"

Takeru couldn't even find the words to scold him; he was still busy staring at Greymon. Greymon took two steps forward. That was about all he could make without crushing PicoDevimon. As tempting as that was, they needed answers. If he really had seen Yamato, then he should have helped Takeru get there. That was the right thing for a  _friend_ to do. He hadn't done that. Instead he had filled Takeru's head with a lot of words that probably didn't mean anything when you came right down to it and it fit too neatly. So even if Takeru didn't consider PicoDevimon a threat, Tokomon did and that meant he had only one job right now, like it or not: protect his Takeru.

Tokomon, deciding on this, leaped from his safe perch on another table and glowed, evolving to Patamon and tackling PicoDevimon before he could even get a word in. Patamon lifted himself up in the air, hating the weakness of newly evolved wings. That was what he had missed when he had died. It had taken him the whole time to get good at flying. Now he had none of that.

Remembering would just have to be enough!

He landed and took a running leap, aiming for the face. PicoDevimon jumped away just in time, eyes wide. He reached into seemingly nowhere with his talons, dropping the mushrooms entirely, and pulled out large syringes. Takeru stepped back before he could stop himself. He hated needles. "Patamon! PicoDevimon, you're not gonna hurt him on you?"

PicoDevimon scoffed, a crooked smile lighting up his features. "Of course I am, Takeru. He wants to hurt me, I have to defend myself."

Patamon managed to wheel around, sucking air into his lungs. "Leave Takeru alone, you ungrateful creep! Air Shot!" The bubble of air smacked PicoDevimon, but the bat righted himself with ease, elbowing Patamon with his wings. He snatched him from the air and gave him a rough toss to the ground. Patamon coughed, shaking himself as PicoDevimon moved towards him.

The bat had forgotten about Greymon, however, and was thrown aside with a swipe of the large tail. Greymon loomed over him and PicoDevimon swung a spray of darts. Each sttabbed nto Greymon's hide, one stuck in his thigh. The dragon swayed where he stood, making a woozy lumbering step.

"greymon!" Hikari made to move over, ignoring how tired she was. Her steps wobbled but she managed to make it over to him. She made for the needles, wrapping her hands around them. She winced and tried to pull, standing on her toes and gripping the middle of the plastic in both hands. These things were stuck!

"Hikari, be careful..." Greymon croaked, trying to stand. "There's something weird with these things..."

Hikari bit her lip. "Yeah, they're stuck..."

Takeru moved over, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Got ya!" He found himself grinning with excitement. He had no idea why but his head felt clear. "Ready?"

Hikari nodded and they both started to pull. Greymon winced and then let out a sigh of relief as the syringe popped out, blood sloshing inside. Hikari and Takeru wrinkled their noses.

"Gross..."

Takeru jumped suddenly and ran off, eyes locked above his head. "Patamon!"

Patamon and PicoDevimon circled each other over the roller coaster. PicoDevimon lunged forward and Greymon belched a fireball. Hikari froze, barely able to watch PicoDevimon scramble away, shrieking in terror.

 _The bird wasn't afraid,_  she thought absently as Patamon chased his enemy.

"Get him Patamon," Takeru cheered.

"Gah!" PicoDevimon righted himself and smacked Patamon out of the air. "Takeru, you traitor!"

"Takeru's not a traitor!" Patamon shouted. "You're just a creepy jerk!  _Air-_ " He sucked in a breath.

"Well, that's enough of that." A voice interrupted in a sneering hiss.

A cat leaped from a nearby tree and kicked Patamon hard into the side of the roller coaster. Takeru ran after his fallen body, tears in his eyes as the cat landed easily on the ground. She looked at PicoDevimon and sniffed. "I can't believe you're having this much trouble with a few humans. You're supposed to be  _good_ at this, PicoDevimon."

He bristled, alighting onto a near by umbrella stand. "What are  _you_  doing here, Tailmon? This isn't your job."

Tailmon swished her purple and white tail, golden ring shining in the sun. She didn't pay him much mind at first, eyes focused on Greymon as he moved between the fallen Patamon and herself. Then she looked up at him and sneered. "We see how well you're doing at yours, don't we?"

His wings went up in rage and he hissed. "I've gotten more accomplished for Vamdemon-sama than you ever could."

The cat rolled her eyes. "And that's why you're here, getting beat by your double blowing you out of the air." She turned away from him and looked over at Hikari. She smiled as the girl made to scurry behind the dinosaur. "Well, at least you found something interesting in your failure. I'm sure Vamdemon-sama will love to hear about it." She began to move forward, noting the way the human girl had something clenched tightly in her fingers. "Now, little human. You did something interesting a few moments ago. Do you think you could do it again?"

Hikari frowned. "Again?"

"Hikari, stay back!" Greymon turned completely to peer at the tiny cat. He shifted into a better fighting position. "Nova Flame!"

Tailmon smirked and dodged, avoiding a narrow swipe of the large claws. She somersaulted, righting herself to punch him between the eyes. Greymon stumbled and crashed, narrowly avoiding stepping on Hikari. Well, that wouldn't do, she thought. No need to kill the specimen before it had even made it home. She turned back to Greymon. The other human was concerned about his own partner. She could leave it. But this…

She pounced. "Neko Punch!" Her fist collided with his horn and he barely stumbled before she kicked him into the fence.

"Greymon!" she heard the girl shout, and turned. The human was stumbling as she ran. This would be simple enough. Tailmon bolted to stop her and punched the girl square in the stomach. The human coughed, choking on air, then crumpled like a stone. She hadn't even gotten out a scream.

For some reason, seeing that filled her with dread and something else, something she didn't know.

Then, the cat shrugged it off, ignoring the frantic shouts. She lifted the girl (who was barely taller than Tailmon herself come to think of it), and grinned at PicoDevimon. "See you back at base."

And then she was gone, Hikari with her.

From her hiding place, Sora began to panic.


	4. Baring Those Broken Fangs

Tailmon wasn't sure whether to be amused by the flurry of activity she had left behind, or concerned that they would catch up with her. She didn't quite understand the fuss. Perhaps the human was important, or they had realized their helplessness against a  _real_ threat. Either way, it didn't concern her in the slightest the farther away she got. She adjusted the human's weight, her small body a little hot against her fur. Was it sick or something? Vamdemon-sama would know better than she.

The human smelled sweet. Like candy.

The scent made her chest hurt.

She ignored it.

" _I was searching for something, for someone. That was all I could ever remember."_

Tailmon laughed to herself and shoved her past self away. Just because you were searching for something, didn't mean you were always going to find it. She continued her quick hops, making to get as far from PicoDevimon's dinky nose and those humans as possible. The sooner she was away, the faster she could please her master. Then a reward and rest.

What will happen to the human after that?

She scoffed at the thought and kept running.

* * *

When night fell, Tailmon didn't bother hiding a fire. If anyone came after her they were unlikely to be a real threat to her. If PicoDevimon tried to, well… she could always lie about that one.

The human… girl, was it a girl? It was likely to be. Humans concerned themselves with gender much more than Digimon. It wasn't like anyone lived long enough for it to matter to begin with. And when her master won, as he would, well…

Tailmon doubted she would live long enough to even care. Fickle man he was.

She lifted her ears, catching a sound on the air. The whipping of fabric, the smell of burned air after a lightning strike. She lowered her head. "All done, Wizarmon?"

"I'm afraid so." His voice was exhausted, most likely due to flying and hiding at the same time. She didn't like letting him out in the open. Call it…  _caring_  or something sentimental and emotional. Ew. He was a good trump card, covered the distant attacks she simply couldn't. He would be perfect in case her fellow soldiers thought killing her would get them anywhere. He stepped into view, sitting by the fire, practically slumping. How unprofessional. He must be tired.

His blue eyes, so much like hers used to be, she noticed, alighted on the sleeping girl. "Who or what is that?"

"A human." Tailmon tried not to let her voice sound too smug. "I captured it."

Wizarmon set his staff to the side, warming his hands through his gloves. "Why, exactly? The master will kill them."

"One of those Chosen was protecting her, it." Tailmon removed her gloves to paw at an ear. "She's likely important, one of them. And she evolved a Digimon who wasn't hers." She glanced at the human to make sure it wasn't conscious. Its breathing remained slow.

Wizarmon's eyebrow lifted beneath the brim of his hat. "Really? Are you sure it wasn't spontaneous?"

Tailmon shook her head. "Definitely sure. If that was the case, it would have affected more than one, considering how emotional everyone was over there… probably would have affected PicoDevimon as well or one of the other Digimon there even. Also she showed symptoms of exhaustion. There's a connection and I would rather it not grow further without research."

"He's not going to be happy you stole his mark." Wizarmon moved over to examine the girl, rolling her gently over onto her back. She hoped he wasn't going to  _spare_  the human or something. She wouldn't like to kill him over it.

Tailmon snickered with derision at the idea. "PicoDevimon didn't even notice he  _had_ a mark and he lost what he was after to begin with. If he complains to Vamdemon-sama, well, he'll have to justify his failure in the process."

"Ruthless, aren't you?" He almost sounded entertained.

Tailmon let out an amused purr. "And I live on because of it." She pulled her gloves back on. "I'll go get us food. They have teeth right? They can chew things?" Wizarmon didn't answer and she turned to look at him. grimacing a little. "This is good for us both. You did a lot of study into magic."

"I was  _expelled_ for my illegal studies of magic," he pointed out.

"Oh, he'll like that even more." Tailmon's voice grew dry and pained. She didn't even know why she was trying to work with him. He was always soft-hearted. And yet here she was. "Just don't let it run away, all right?" She hurried away before he could even think of refusing, off to get some fish. Wizarmon let out a sigh. He removed his gloves and felt the human's forehead.

She was hot to the touch.

Wizarmon grimaced. Tailmon needed to hurry back soon.

* * *

Hikari awoke feeling a mixture of floating and falling underwater.. Her head swam with the strength of the fever. It was hot, so hot. Yet there was a breeze over her face. Someone moved closer to her.

"Ah, you're awake."

She didn't know this voice. Hikari froze. The speaker paused and murmured something to someone a distance away. "Please relax, you are ill." His voice was quieter now. "Please. I know you are a prisoner and you must feel uncomfortable, but you mustn't make yourself worse."

She fought down the urge to ask why not? That was what her big brother would do. He would be defiant, he would be glaring and brave even when he shouldn't be. Right? But she wasn't her brother, now was she?

Hikari behaved herself, and opened her eyes.

She saw someone with thoughtful blue eyes and hair like dirty straw. He smiled with a once-sewn mouth. "Hello there," he said.

Hikari made to answer when there was a low sigh. "Don't be so friendly to her, Wizarmon. He won't like that."

"He won't know if you don't tell, right Tailmon?"

The other made a noise of discontent, but under this, Hikari thought she could detect fear. Hikari knew that voice. That was the person who had… Her stomach hurt.

"Where's Takeru-kun? And Greymon?" Her voice came out hoarse.

Wizarmon looked at her with puzzled lack of recognition and Tailmon snorted. "I doubt PicoDevimon managed anything, so they're probably fine. Even so, they won't be able to save you. The Chosen Children are dropping like flies."

Hikari flinched at the words, but not at the cat. For some reason, she didn't quite feel afraid of her. Something about her… ached. She wondered what the white fur would feel like under her fingers.

It was too hot to think about these things. She closed her eyes again. "Where… where are you taking me?"

"To our master's castle." Tailmon's voice grew sour and tired. "He'll find plenty to do with you, I'm certain."

Hikari frowned to herself. That sounded bad. That sounded  _awful_. She needed to sleep, to gather her strength. But would she ever wake up again? Her head started to throb as she thought and thought.

She woke from her thoughts at the sound of a shrieking bird. Then a very familiar voice reached her ears.

"Hikari-chan!"

Sora. Her heart swelled. She was here too.

Tailmon sighed. "Oh this is a hassle. Go ahead of me, Wizarmon."

"It would be rude of me to leave you behind," he replied. In seconds, Hikari found herself stationary in the air. "Much as it pains me to do this..." He rested his staff at Hikari's prone throat and whispered. "Don't fight this and you'll be fine, I promise."

Hikari swallowed. Perhaps he wasn't so gentle after all. Perhaps no one was in this world, after all.

Her head continued to ache, just like before.


	5. A Dig at Personal Failure

What would be the most likely event to happen when a giant bird tried to attack a small target in the middle of a forest? To even Hikari, watching only meters away, the answer was fairly obvious: nothing would work. The other two were too small to get a solid hit on, and the flames would just roast the trees… and maybe even her. The giant bird's wings and talons would only make things worse.

"Hikari-chan!" Sora cried. "Stay where you are!"

Well that was silly. Where else was she going to go, really? Well, she was tempted to run _away_ from the flaming bird because the last time she had seen a giant bird-

_"Koromon!"_

He had taken her friend away. Even being with the bitter cat and two-faced mage, she knew that being kidnapped was better than watching your friend go away for good. At least, she hoped it would be. She had no idea what was going to happen to her now.

Tailmon rose to her back paws and scoffed. "Well, aren't _you_ having fun playing the hero?" She lunged forward and leaped, kicking Birdramon hard in the beak. Birdramon flew backward with the force and Tailmon spun with the momentum. She threw herself down again, punching hard. She flipped back and landed on all fours, lips curled into a smug smile. Her tail lazily danced in the air, making the ring on it shine in the fire Birdramon cloaked herself in.

Wizarmon dropped down and scooped Hikari up, spinning away from the flames. Hikari dimly heard Sora shout to be careful, but she paid it no notice. She looked up at Wizarmon, her fingers reaching to touch the leather of his gloves. He didn't look down, he probably didn't need to, but his smile remained. "This won't take long."

"Are you going to hurt them?" She hadn't heard her voice sound that small in a long time.

"Likely a little, if they keep attacking. If someone attacks you, sometimes you don't have a choice but to fight back."

Hikari… really couldn't argue with that, but she still winced at the sound of Tailmon's fist connecting with Birdramon's skull. How could someone be both evil and right? It was weird. Hikari shut her eyes as the sound of Sora's voice.

"Hikari-chan!"

Soccer really had taught her to yell. And be angry. But if she stayed like this, if she stayed their prisoner, they'd be less likely to hurt Sora-san, right?

That thought was proven wrong by Tailmon dropping down and hitting Sora square in the back of the neck. Wizarmon's grip tightened on Hikari as squirmed, shouting protests through a now sore throat. "Was that really necessary?"

Tailmon caught up with them before answering, but the size and the strength of her ears caused her to hear his question. She huffed at him. "Well, at least it stopped them without burning the forest down. No need to get the rest of the humans down on us."

"I thought Picodevimon was handling that."

"Oh please." Tailmon rolled her eyes. "The day PicoDevimon properly manages anything is the day my Holy Ring turns as black as my heart." Wizarmon tried to contain a chuckle. Hikari thought of the little bat who had attacked her and Takeru and grimaced. She supposed she should be happy he's not that good at his job. Otherwise, he could have really hurt them. "Let's keep going."

"Very well." The words were punctuated with a heavy sigh. Tailmon clawed at his hat and scowled, taking to the ground once more.

Hikari closed her eyes, and pretended everything would be all right. She still wanted to believe that. These two did not feel dangerous to her. They just felt very tired.

She understood that. Adults were often very tired.

She pretended that she didn't hear the large bird howling.

Then, she felt the food she had swallowed beginning to rise up her throat. She barely was able to hit the ground before retching into a bush. Tailmon sneered.

Then the earth groaned with her, and Tailmon, for reasons she didn't understand, felt her heart splinter.

* * *

"At this rate, it'll die before we get there."

"I have my doubts." Wizarmon disagreed, less out of habit and more out of certainty. The girl, they really ought to ask her for her name, was trailing after them, still pale, but her small, sandaled feet were steady as they moved forward. He would pick her up again pretty soon, but they were close to another resting point, and they didn't want to risk passing it. She wouldn't run. She had nowhere to go. But she still kept walking. That alone deserved some respect, surely. But Tailmon didn't give respect easily, mostly due to the fact that she did not get it easily in a workplace full of Viruses.

That was why Wizarmon was here, he supposed. Well, that, and he had lost a right to go to the place he had once called home. "We should rest soon anyway," he said after a few moments. "You've fought twice in under forty-eight hours. You could use the energy."

Tailmon scoffed, then let out an exasperated sigh. "I suppose you're right. Can you stay up for very long?"

Wizarmon chuckled before he could stop himself, watching the little girl as she followed them. "I was once a student of the Book," he pointed out. "We're known for pulling all nighters."

Tailmon raised an eyebrow and did not comment, merely went to direct the girl to a place they both could see her sleep. Wizarmon sighed to himself. Of course she wouldn't get the joke. She hardly knew how to read, her education was spotty at best. He had tried to help, not that he was entirely sure why, but she was resistant.

_If there was anything that I needed to know from a book, Vamdemon-sama would have told me by now._

That was always the answer, wasn't it?

He sighed and decided not to think about it.

Time passed and he didn't doze. He wasn't as tired as he could have been. He concentrated on the leap of the flames, poking them to rise when they seemed to get too low. The moon was darker now, he would need all of the light he could get.

Another hour passed and the little girl got up and tottered sleepily over to a bush. He almost stood up, then then she squatted down sleepily. "Toilet," she mumbled. Wizarmon relaxed, watching her until she got up from the bush and went back to her spot. Tailmon's ears had twitched but she didn't stir otherwise. She must have been exhausted. The girl didn't lay back down. She only sat, blinking at the fire. Her body glowed in the firelight, and it was almost abnormal.

"What's your name?"

The girl looked up, rubbing her eyes. "My name?"

He nodded. "It feels awkward not to know it, no matter what happens." The girl stared at him and he raised his hands sheepishly. "Digimon don't really have names, not very often. Just as Tailmon goes by her species name, as a Wizarmon I do the same. You don't go by human, do you?"

She giggled at the absurdity of the thought. "N-no..." She quieted, looking at Tailmon. Her eyes went strange and soft whenever she looked at Tailmon and he didn't know if she noticed. "Hikari," she said softly. "My name is Hikari."

"Hikari," he repeated slowly. Another language's word, a word for light.

Would that make their master more interested? Or would it just cause him to be more interested in killing her?

When Tailmon woke up, he supposed he would find out, wouldn't he?


	6. The One Who Cages the Monsters

Vamdemon's castle was a monstrosity of a building, even to young Hikari's tired eyes. Twisting in the air, it was almost someone had cobbled together giant, old rook pieces off of a Western chessboard and given them a door after gluing them with superglue that was fifty years old. No one would tell the vampire ruler of this castle this to his face, of course, but it was the thought that passed through so many minds, even though so few of them knew what superglue was. Most of them died after thinking it.

Hikari certainly thought about it as she looked up, craning her neck to see the tips of the towers. She failed and went to rub her neck, pouting to herself. Then Tailmon gave her a rough shove and Hikari stumbled forward. Her sandals were almost ruined now. She tried not to whimper at the blisters on her feet. The attempt went decently, all things considered. Her pain tolerance was working in her favor, but it wouldn't last much longer. The cat seemed to have noticed, because she didn't lead them very far into the building. Wizarmon floated beside the girl, examining her. Hikari rubbed at her ruined socks, feeling the heat beneath her fingers and trying again not to make a sound.

Tailmon nodded at the two of them. "Wait here."

Hikari wondered what else she could do in this state, but decided not to say so. Tailmon's ears were nearly flat against her head and her tail visibly drooped as she walked. No matter how eager she had been to bring Hikari here, she wasn't happy to be in this place. With the gloom of the castle entrance, Hikari couldn't blame her really. She'd want to stay out of this place as much as possible too. She kind of did already.

The cat left, crawling on all fours up the stairs. Hikari sat on a stone, toeing off her sandals and socks and wincing in relief. Wizarmon examined her feet with concern, then sat down himself. The air was not quiet at all. She could hear people -Digimon?- whispering as they walked by. Eyes rested on her then quickly away as they passed the hallways, and their voices were filled with so much surprise. Was she that unusual?

"Am I a freak?" she asked Wizarmon in a low voice. It seemed like a fair question, considering all of the stares.

"You're a human," replied the Digimon, head cocked to the left in the direction of the door. "Might as well be the same thing in this world."

Hikari thought about this and closed her eyes. She was so tired that she didn't want to ask any more questions.

A long time later, the door opened. Tailmon hit the wall and crumpled into a ball as she hit the ground. It seemed more habitual than reflexive, which made Hikari cringe. She wanted to get up but Wizarmon's hand sank into her shoulder. Tailmon shook her head as she rose, clearing her white fur of surface dust. "Vamdemon-sama requests to see you now."

She looked at Hikari as she spoke, eyes blazing and daring. Daring the little girl to feel pity, to somehow think that she was beneath her now because even she had a bully. The blue eyes bored deeper and though Hikari's own watered, she straightened and made herself stare right back. She refused to quail, gripping her big brother's digivice tight in her hand. She did not feel pity. Or at least she didn't think she did.

Instead there was a black pit in her stomach, anger and fear and hope and a sudden urge to give nothing to whoever this was. That was what Taichi would do right now in her sandals. He would give this guy, whoever he was, a tough fight at the very least. Well, she didn't like fighting, she really wasn't good at it, but she wouldn't let him break her. No, she had to be tough.

Finally, the white cat looked away. Something in her seemed to have cracked. Hikari straightened and strode forward.

If she had scratched the cat behind one ear as she passed, no one would say anything. It might as well have not even happened.

* * *

Hikari kept walking. Somehow the pain in her feet seemed less important. Maybe the blisters had burst. (She had no idea if that would make it worse or not.) What seemed more important was moving forward, reaching the room on the other side of the hallway. This castle was much too confusing for her taste. A door did not lead to a room but a hallway and a hallway that seemed bigger than the room.

Digimon lived in a strange world, she decided as she finally reached the door. She pushed it open and the hinges squeaked. No oil in who knows how long. She peered inside with big eyes. "Hello?" The smell of old books and damp earth was almost sickening, but she entered the room anyway.

"Impatient, aren't you?" whispered a low voice from the other side of the room. "You didn't even wait for my permission to enter."

Hikari wanted to quail, but her feet hurt too much and there was a tug at her navel that she really didn't quite grasp. "You asked me to come in here..." she pointed out.

Something bright red whipped over her head and she flinched from it as the speaker grunted, blinking back her own tears of fear. "If you weren't liable to _crack_ like an egg, I would scold you properly, little human girl."

At least he was honest about that. "Who are you?" Maybe he would be honest about this too. She was surprised her voice hadn't wavered. Taichi had to be giving her courage, to stand up to this ugly, mean monster.

The speaker left and strode from the darkness to greet her. One eye blue, one green, both like water from a broken pipe, rested on her in amusement. "Vamdemon, the dark ruler of Server."

Hikari only blinked at him, failing to understand the importance.

He laughed. The red light faded from around his fingers. "Tailmon told you nothing then."

"She took me prisoner." Hikari didn't know where this bravery was coming from. It wasn't really her brother's anymore. It was too cold, too… angry.

The tall man regarded her, and she thought she smelled something rotting. Then he knelt to look closer. "What are you doing here, little girl? Why are you in this world of ours?"

"I don't know." And she didn't. She really, really didn't. "I just didn't want my brother to leave."

He laughed, and it made her think of the villains in Kamen Rider. Except he wa somehow worse. He was real and right in front of her. "That is the most sensible statement I have heard in a long time. What a shame that that sense didn't apply to you."

Hikari swallowed. "What do you want with me?"

The man turned and the gloom of the room brightened enough for her to make out something rather like a box. No, no wait… She squinted. It was like one of those prop coffins in the vampire cartoons. He was… he was a vampire? Was he going to like: eat her? No, wait. The other Digimon would be in here if he was. He would want to flaunt his power. That was how bad guys like this worked.

"Come closer," he said.

Hikari didn't want to, but it didn't seem like a question, so she did. She moved towards the coffin and the pain that had been rising in her began to ebb. It was like sunbathing. She reached the coffin and peered in before she could stop herself. A small light pulsed inside of it, pink and somehow familiar.

"Ah yes, it seems that I've found you at last." He gave a rough shove to her behind and Hikari tumbled into the coffin. "The Child of Light. What a treat."

Hikari squeaked and thumped onto the soft padding. Before she could sit up, the coffin closed over her head.

**Author's Note:**

> So this story has been a long time in coming. short idea. Thought it would be fun and interesting, and probably odd. Well, here goes!
> 
> Challenges: Alphabet Prompts challenge, prompt 1: accord, Advent Calendar challenge day 5: start a fic you have yet to post, AU Diversity Boot Camp, prompt "light", AU Devils of Doom: divergent!AU, and the what if challenge.


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